I had a sherry blind tasting with 8 different sherried whiskies. Tamdhu 10 finished last. It was not a close last. There were 7 decadent, rich sherried whiskies oozing dark fruits, dark chocolate, butterscotch, and crème brulee. And 1 beer. This was the beer. The nose is dominated by the spirit. Young malt and organic solvent. Light fruits and nutty popcorn, almonds, and sherry, but not enough sherry. A nutty, malty, citrusy arrival that only later becomes dark fruits. Orange peels, white pepper, and a light smoke towards the finish. The finish is the only redeeming part. The nose and palate expose that the Tamdhu new make is nowhere near the Macallan caliber they are trying to emulate, and this product is too young, and needs more barrel influence to smooth out its flaws. I bet the batch strength Tamdhu, which is officially NAS, is 11-12 years. I really enjoyed batch #1, and not as much batch #2. Now that I’ve tried Tamdhu 10, I am noticing some bad characteristics in the batch #1 hidden by the stronger ABV and, I think, more time in the barrel. So, not only is this bottle not worth the premium price they are charging for a 10 year old, it made another bottle (batch 1) not worth it by bringing attention to Tamdhu’s flaws. I’m definitely done playing with this distillery. Macallan from the future it is not. PRESUMPTIVE MARK: 77/100 In case you’re interested, here’s how the 8 whiskies ended up being ranked: 1. Aberlour A’bunadh B34 NAS 59.5% 2. Arran Single Cask Sherry OB D1997/B2013 Spring Release 52.8% 3. Glendronach 12 year B2016 (1L travel retail) 43% 4. Tamdhu Batch Strength #1 NAS B2015 58.8% 5. Famous Grouse 18 year 43% 6. Macallan Edition No. 1 NAS 48.1% 7. Tomatin 18 year B2017 46% 8. Tamdhu 10 year B2017 43%